The present invention relates to a pan and pot lid holder, in particular to a pan and pot lid holder, which is universal in use and fulfills many additional functions.
When cooking with a pot or pan, a user must periodically remove the lid to stir the items therein or to add additional ingredients thereto. The lid is typically very hot and often has splattered food and condensation thereon. A hot lid can cause permanent damage to a counter top, a table or similar support surface if placed thereon. Even if the lid is not extremely hot, condensation and food residue will drip onto the counter top which is messy and inconvenient. Accordingly, there is a need for a device which allows a user to temporarily secure a hot or dirty pan lid eliminating the undesirable practice of placing it on a counter top.
Many pan and pot lid holders have been developed to hold a lid when it is either raised and is held on the appliance in an appliance open position or removed from the kitchen appliance and is placed onto a temporary support for use during cooking or onto a holder for long-term storage.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (Kokai) H7-255598 published on Oct. 9, 1995 (Inventor Narita) describes a pan lid holder which is integrally attached at an angle to the edge of the pan so that it extends radially outwardly. The holder has a longitudinal slot for insertion of a narrowed portion of the knob attached to the top of the pan lid. A disadvantage of this device is that, when the lid is placed onto the holder during cooking activity, the lid limits freedom of movement for the user. The holder of this type can be used only with the pan lid with a handle of a knob type and is not applicable for any other purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,616 issued to Jack Carney on Jul. 7, 1992 describes a pot lid and utensil holder for holding pot lids and/or cooking utensils. The device includes a first generally planar component with separate notches, apertures, ledges or the like for supporting pot lids or cooking utensils. A second generally planar component is mounted to the first planar component to support this component and to selectively receive cooking utensils supported by the first planar component, as well as retain any drippings from the utensils.
Although the applicant of the aforementioned patent states that the device of his invention retains any dripping, it can be seen from FIG. 5 of the aforementioned patent that the position of the pan or pot lid on the holder of U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,616 does not prevent dripping to the cooking top or counter top. Furthermore, the device is unstable, especially when supports heavy lids. It is not sufficiently universal and can support only pot or pan lids and some kitchen utensils such as spoons or knifes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,673 issued in November of 1999 to P. Dooley describes a magnetic cooking utensil holder which allows a user to temporarily secure hot pan lids while cooking eliminating the undesirable practice of placing the hot and sometimes soiled lids on a counter top. The device includes a horizontal tubular magnet having a plurality of support legs pivotally attached thereto, which expand to form a tripod type support structure. A drip tray for collecting condensate or food residue adhering to the lid is removably attached to a pair of opposing support legs. A pair of opposing side arms each extending from an end of the magnet have a plurality of vertically aligned magnetic strips thereon for receiving additional cooking utensils such as knives, forks and spoons. Accordingly, whenever a user removes a lid to add ingredients or to stir the food within a pot or pan, the edge of the pan is placed within a drip tray with an opposing portion magnetically secured to the magnetic bar. The tripod type support structure allows the lid to be obliquely suspended with respect to the counter top so that any condensation or food residue adhering to the lid will easily drain into the drip tray.
A main disadvantage of the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5979673 is that its use is limited to holding only ferromagnetic items. Supporting of non-ferromagnetic items will be either impossible or would not provide stability of the supported items. The second disadvantage is that the residue drips from the lids to the tray, which has to be constantly cleaned from fatty substance. The third disadvantage is that the device is capable of supporting lids of a certain diameter. There is no support for lids of a small diameter and no stability for lids of a large diameter. Nothing prevents dripping from the items supported vertically on the side of the device to the counter top.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pot and pan lid holder which is universal in its use, simple in construction, ensures stable support of pan and pot lids, prevents dripping from the lid to the cook or counter top, can be easily disassembled into parts convenient for storage and usable as additional supports for spoons, knifes, forks, kettles, pans, pots, napkins, etc., and ensures convenient access to handles of supported lids.
Provided is a universal pot and pan lid holder in the form of an open-top cylindrical body having at least one portion of its cylindrical side wall removable for access to the interior of the body from its side. The diameter of the cylindrical body should be smaller than the diameter of the lids to be supported. The removable portion has on its outer surface radial outward projections. For use as a lid support, the holder is placed onto the table or counter top with its open side up, the removable portion is removed from the cylindrical body and is placed onto the table or counter top, using the aforementioned radial projections as supports for the removed portion. When necessary, the hot or fatty pot or pan lid is placed during cooking onto the open top side of the cylindrical body with the internal (pot or pan covering) side of the lid facing up. Since the internal side of the lid faces up, dripping from the lid to the support surface is completely prevented. The cylindrical side wall may have two removable portions. The second removable portion may be located diametrically opposite to the first one and may have a flat pad on the outer side of the removable portion. When removed and placed onto the table or counter top with its flat pad up, this second removable portion may be used as a support for a kettle, pan, pot, or the like. The perforations in the bottom of the holder make it possible to use it as a strainer for washing such foods products as fruits, vegetable, berries, rice, etc.